Guidelines of the Social Sciences Directorate of Doctoral Studies concerning doctoral theses

General requirements

The requirements for doctoral theses are specified in the Universities Act, the section of the Statutes of the University of Vienna governing university studies and the Curriculum for the doctoral programme in Social Sciences. According to the Curriculum, a doctoral thesis “serves to demonstrate the candidate’s ability to master academic topics independently” and is “expected to be of a quality to merit publication, at least in parts, in accordance with the standards in the field of research.”

The Curriculum also makes clear that publishing results from the doctoral project is encouraged: “The publication of partial results of the doctoral project in academic journals and their presentation at academic conferences prior to the submission of the doctoral thesis is encouraged.”

The formal rules for submitting a doctoral thesis (including formatting) must be observed; see University Gazette of 24 September 2015, 39th edition, number 260.

Additional guidelines

The Social Sciences Directorate of Doctoral Studies specifies additional quality guidelines for doctoral theses.